


Patience

by WritingIsMyCoffee



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Blood, Character study? Sort of, F/M, Typical TAZ violence, i wrote this really late at night and I am very tired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-23 04:22:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11395257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingIsMyCoffee/pseuds/WritingIsMyCoffee
Summary: All Lup had to do was be patient and wait for Barry to come back to her.That still didn't make waiting any less difficult.(The first time one of them dies after the duet)





	Patience

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't fall asleep so I typed his out on my phone, which mean there are probably a dozen typos. I'll fix it later. Anyway, enjoy this blupjeans angst.
> 
> Update: Alright, I caught some sleep and fixed all the grammatical errors. Autocorrect is the worst.

They're in a cave, somewhere in the plane they will continue to call home for at least another twelve months. A day after landing on the infinitely mountainous terrain of the planet below, the Light of Creation skyrockets towards the earth faster than any of them can blink.  
But not fast enough.  
Lup spots it. With her elven eyes she has the advantage of sight compared to her human and older counterparts. Immediately, the seven of them set course for the same ball of energy they've been chasing for over fifty cycles now. Time is not wasted in their quest. The only stop they make is to talk to the locals to map out a precise location. Years and years of the same endless goal has left them agitated; the sooner they get the Light, the less time they have to throw away worrying about it.  
Their journey takes them to a cave, tucked away in the crook of a mountain. Davenport and Lucretia stay behind on the Starblaster. The rest of them are off to finish what is essentially a chore to them at this point. None of them are anxious in the slightest. In fact, Taako can't stop grumbling on about how going out to retrieve the Light so late in the day will mess with his meal plans. The atmosphere around the retrieval party is dull, tired, and somewhat peaceful.  
That is, before they enter the cave and the ground crumbles beneath them.  
Lup is separated from the rest of the group, minus Barry, whose glasses were tragically crushed in the cave-in. To avoid running into the sharp cavern walls every few feet, the two of them simply hold hands as they  
travel down the only road they can: what remains of the cave.  
A few cycles ago, both of them would have been a complete mess if they were forced to link hands together for so long. Two pining crew mates struggling to express their feelings for each other even after several decades? Forget about it.  
Now, everything they do together just feels natural. Once every few steps, Barry's shoulder brushes up against Lup's and a warmth fills her chest. She'll catch his glance once in a while and even though he's as blind as a bat without his optics, he always returns her smile.  
They are lost to the maze they are trapped in and each other's presence. So lost in fact that neither of them realizes they've run into a gang of hidden mercenaries until they are weapons pointed at their faces. Throughout all the planes the seven of them have traveled to, Lup swears she's never seen any kinds of weapons that even compare to the ones she's looking at. Large, long, and crafted with various metals, and a pale light glowing from within its barrel. It doesn't cause Lup to tremble in her boots but it defiantly sets her on edge.  
The mercenary with the biggest instrument starts yelling at them in a language neither of the understand. Cautiously, she inches her hand to her back pocket, near her wand, ready to unleash her charged-up spell slots on their aggressors. She's not afraid. She knows she can take them all on with her eyes closed and come out without a scratch.  
But Barry, vision-limited Barry with a heart of gold, tries to respond to the mercenaries and calm them down. His voice is sincere, friendly, and as non-threatening as you can get.  
So naturally, when the mercenaries do start firing at them, Barry takes a bolt to the chest before Lup's first fireball can even be conjured from her wand.  
The mercenaries go down in a puff of smoke, their bodies nothing but charred flesh and ash. All that fuss and all it leads to an anticlimactic end.  
The same can be said for Barry. Lup follows him down to the cave's floor as his knees give out from under him and he starts to slump forward. Lup catches him by the shoulders, releasing their intertwined hands, and pushes him up so that he's facing her.  
Barry's face has already gone placid before Lup can sit him up right.  
It takes a moment for her to realize he's dead, that's he's gone for the rest of the year until their hellish cycle resets. A cold sense of loneliness creeps up on her as the shock hits. Their newest cycle just started and the love of her life is already gone.  
"Oh."  
Her voice bounces around the cavern walls before dying away into silence. She sits by his side, completely still, for a minute. Then two. Then ten. When the blood from Barry's corpse starts to soak into her clothing, that's when she finally stands up. She delicately positions Barry's body so it's lying on the ground in a comfortable position. Minus the gaping whole where his rib cage should be, it appears as if he's sleeping.  
He is sleeping. For the next year.  
Automatically, Lup's body wanders down the path to the end of the cave. Just as the locals informed them, the Light of Creation is stationed on a pedestal of stone like it's some sort of prize.  
Funny. Lup doesn't feel like a winner.  
She retrieves it and carries it back with her to where the mouth of the cave should be. By the time she reaches the entrance, a new one has been blasted into the rubble, most likely by the smoldering wand in her brother's hand.  
Lup hands the Light off to the first person she sees, in this case Magnus, and quietly makes her way over the the harbored Starblaster. She quietly sneaks away into her cabin, ignoring her teammates' questions about Barry's whereabouts, and falls asleep.  
When she wakes up, her bed sheets are stained from the blood on her cloths and her eyes are red and puffy.

The months roll past Lup faster than she realizes, and yet slower than she could ever imagine. Hours feel like years and weeks feel like minutes. Her mind is boggled by how long it takes her to adjust to Barry's absence; she's forever frustrated in how confused she gets when Taako pulls out six plates for evening meals and not seven.  
Every once in a while, she'll wake up in a cold sweat from another nightmare born from the severity of their situation and look to the other side of her bed to find it empty. It takes time for her to get used to calming herself down and go back to sleep, even if the sheets around her are deathly chill against her skin.  
She interacts with the rest of her crew- her family- each and every passing day. Magnus is always showing her his newest carving. Merle can always be relied on for a joke or impromptu dance party. Lucretia always lets her skim through her many, many journals no matter what time of the day it is. And Davenport is always there for her with strong words of encouragement.  
Taako never ceases to let her down. Her twin cooks their favorite meals whenever her smile is less radiant than usual. He lets her borrow his favorite blouse, the one that compliments her figure perfectly, even if the planet's weather is too dreary for a trip into the nearest town. Whenever she knocks on his door late at night, he's already set up a fort compiled with various blankets and pillows for them to bury themselves in. Lup knows she would be lost without her brother.  
Yet, despite all her friends do her her-despite all that Taako does for her, Lup can never escape the terrifying loneliness in her soul.  
Time ticks away and her misery only grows, even when they're barely even a week away from The Hunger making its routine visit. In a matter of hours, the year will reset and a new cycle will begin. Everything and everyone will go back to the way it was at the very start of their journey; since the beginning of cycle one.  
But Lup knows that the numbness inside of her will never truly vanish.

When the fateful day finally arrives, Lup hardly even blinks an eye at the black tendrils that sweep down into the planet's surface, despite how uncharacteristic it is of her.  
The Starblaster dodges past every streak of darkness thrown its way with ease. Their escape and survival is clear, and is only made clearer by the light that begins to envelop them all. Lup watches as her friends collectively hold their breaths and wait for the cycle to reset-  
And just like that, everything is back to the way it was over fifty cycles ago.  
Lup takes in the familiar surrounding. Taako by her side, Lucretia by the edge of the ship, Davenport behind her in the Captain's Chair.  
Directly across from her is Magnus, sporting his famous black eye. To his right is Barry, very much alive and in pristine condition.  
Lup her arms around his neck before Barry can get we name off of his lips. She tightens her hold on him, digging her face into the side of his face and running her hands through his hair. He still smells like citrus body wash and old books, the two scents she's been starved of for nearly 365 days.  
Barry whispers comforting words into her ear and various proclamations of his love before pulling her away and kissing her. Lup kisses him back with an intensity that makes up for the time they've lost together. Tears are rolling down her face in steady streams. Barry tries to wipe them away with his thumbs but her face is wet again mere seconds later.  
They lose track of time in each other's arms, too afraid that if one of them let's go, the other will disappeared.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone has any "hot tipz" on how to get yourself to fall asleep quickly I'm all ears pal.
> 
> Thanks for reading btw


End file.
